Q&A of the Day – Is It Possible to Replace TSA Agents During a Shutdown?
Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods.
Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com
Social: @brianmuddradio
iHeartRadio: Use the Talkback feature – the microphone button on our station page in the iHeart app.
Today’s entry: Submitted via Talkback: Question for you. Since the TSA has many people that are not showing up to work, I'm wondering, is there any chance a good option might be to bring in the Army Reserves to come in and take over the TSA job? I'm thinking it might help end the problem of all at the at the airports right now, and it might just be a really good solution. I'm interested in your feedback if you think that's something that the president.
Bottom Line: Amid the growing issues with airport security and screening amid the partial Department of Homeland Security shutdown, your idea sounds as good as any. There’s one not-so-small obstacle that would prevent your potentially pragmatic approach to dealing with a manufactured political crisis (that’s increasingly leading to A travel crisis at many airports)...problems that have become so significant with TSA employees quitting their jobs or not reporting to work after having gone over a month without receiving a paycheck. That obstacle is the Aviation and Transportation Security Act.
The Act was passed in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks and enacted a complete overhaul of airport security protocols. As you may recall, prior to 9/11 airport security was privatized with security firms who contracted with the federal government to provide security screening at airports. Following the use of commercial aircraft through hijackings, and security failures that contributed to the successful hijackings, the federal government assumed total control of aviation security. As part of that assumed control, specific requirements were put into place for those who would provide screening security under the newly created Transportation Security Administration. Those requirements were these:
- The Transportation Security Administration is responsible for all transportation security modes
- All security screeners must be federal employees of the Transportation Security Administration
- Screeners are to be hired, trained, tested, and supervised directly by TSA as uniformed federal personnel for that agency
The law provides at least two challenges as it would apply to attempting to have reservists take over the role. The first challenge is that the law explicitly states all screeners are to be trained TSA agents. The second is that during the partial shutdown all training programs have been halted for all impacted DHS agencies as funding for them doesn’t currently exist.
This means that even in the event that say President Trump were to issue an emergency declaration calling for reservists to assist with airport security, and even if that effort were to survive legal challenges, the reservists still wouldn’t been trained on procedures, how to use the equipment, etc. At best they’d be setup for failure, at worst there could be significant security lapses.
Under the transportation law there is one statue as it pertains to military personnel – retired service members honorably discharged are to be given preference in hiring decisions.
With that said, preceding the current TSA troubles brought about by the partial shutdown, a proposal to once again privatize airport screening was proposed by senators Tommy Tuberville and Mike Lee. As noted by Tuberville: The TSA has become an inefficient, bureaucratic mess that infringes on Americans’ freedoms and wastes taxpayer money. It’s a bloated agency that offers minimal security benefits while causing unnecessary delays and frustration for travelers. We need to focus on smarter, more effective methods to protect our country without sacrificing the liberties that make America great. The TSA should be eliminated and replaced with more targeted, streamlined, and accountable solutions.
The bill didn’t gain any traction when proposed last year and it’s almost certain not to this year – regardless of the outcome of the current shutdown situation...however one potential benefit of privatization would hold the potential to address temporary funding lapses a la what we’ve seen.
With airport screeners being federal employees – if funding to pay them isn’t approved – they won’t get paid until it is, no matter how long that may be. If, however, private enterprises employed the security screeners – they could potentially continue to compensate their employees while awaiting funding from the federal government to come through. In fact, that type of provision could be added to legislation as a condition of receiving a government contract to provide security. Again, it’s a long shot at best, but ultimately a change of law is the only thing that would change the status quo problems we’ve become accustomed to with TSA during government shutdowns.